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Monthly Archives: April 2017

The fact I am even writing about this makes me chuckle. That’s why I am writing about it though. I was driving home from my first shop in our brand spanking new local Aldi and all I could think about was a Facebook status I could post to describe my experience. But it wouldn’t suffice, so a blog post it is.

In our house, we love Lidl. I think over the years, it has really improved, and I’m astounded week after week when I get a trolley full of lovely grub for very little. I can stick to a budget there, and I know what I’m getting. Chris loves the wines, we get a bit excited when we get the magazine and see what next week’s ‘theme’ is, and we now don’t need to shop anywhere else. Sad I know, but we are approaching middle age.

However, today I decided to give our new Aldi a shot – just to see. It would be on our way home from our day out so it made sense.

Fast forward a few hours and I was driving home, feeling flat after my shopping experience, wishing I could return it all and go to Lidl. Then it hit me – 10 years ago, even 5 years ago, I wouldn’t even be thinking about this! What have I become that this weekly shop has me comparing notes and regretting my purchasing decisions!

I was weirdly excited about going to Aldi. We’d had a great day out, and popping in on the way back was the last thing we were doing before heading home. There has been a lot of talk locally about it, a grand opening, and friends who have shopped there, so I had high hopes. I talked it up to Lylah, building up her excitement at the chance of seeing a brand new supermarket! She was also weirdly excited, and even exclaimed to Malachy as we arrived “Look Baba, we’re at Aldi!”, like it was some local substitute for Peppa Pig World.

I was especially excited about the ‘pea crisp’ snacks that a friend of mine had found in there. Malachy seemed to like them, so happy days, a new snack, only available at Aldi, it will all be worth it just for that!

It didn’t start well. I didn’t have a coin for the trolleys (before you wonder, my handy trolley coin is on my other set of keys), so I had to go into the shop, ask for one at the busy tills, go back through the exit and follow the checkout girl who had to leave her busy till to help me.

The trolley seemed small compared to my usual large Lidl one, but that aside, I wandered down the first aisle.

I never realised how much of a creature of habit I’ve become. Every week, I do a very similar shop to the week before, bar the occasional exception, it normally comes to around the same price, and it’s all in a place I know around the store. Walking down the first aidle made me feel slightly uneasy, like I was lost on a weird budget food planet I’d never visited before, and I didn’t know where to begin. The 6 selected vegetables on at 29p each settled me though – yes, I thought, this will be worth it. Chris phoned me at this point, and I told Lylah to tell him where we were like it was some big reveal. She was all excited telling him, but while she was revealing our exciting location, I was having a minor meltdown at the price of mushrooms compared to Lidl. I spoke with Chris on the phone and explained my dilemma…should I buy the same size pack as I always do at nearly 30p more? I’ve saved so much on the 29p veg selection, I assured myself, I can let this one slide. At which point, I saw a bigger, better value pack, and it felt okay again. Phew.

I wandered round the store, but nothing seemed to flow. Nothing was where it should be, and I nearly decided to leave, but with half a trolley of fruit and veg, I decided, that even if only for a week, this week we’d shop at Aldi. Then I came across a free-from and health food section, and they had Quinoa! Not just one type, but two types! Aldi was slowly getting one up on Lidl – they only have Quinoa sporadically!

I carried on and got my usual bits, filled the trolley, but without with a few things that I can only get at Lidl, but honestly I didn’t enjoy it. I felt like i was just going through the motions, but not really taking it all in!

Then I realised I hadn’t seen the pea snacks! I can’t leave without the pea snacks! That’s essentially why I have cheated on Lidl in the first place! They weren’t in the crisps section, so I travelled back to the health food section. There they were, so I grabbed both flavours and felt immediately happier.

I loaded up the till belt with my purchases, but noticed a few things I always buy were missing. I was disorientated here, I’m missing out essential items like honey and butter. This wouldn’t have happened at Lidl. But Lidl don’t have pea snacks…

In the car, I mused over our new local Aldi. I’m not concerned for the future of our fab Lidl store and it’s amazing Gin and Deluxe steaks. My shop looks similar to usual, but without that Lidl sparkle!

Gone are the days I treat myself to weekly shopping in Sainsburys. Those trips are only reserved for special occasions. And Waitrose is only for free coffee and posh picnics. So I’m left with comparing Aldi to Lidl. I’m 33, a mum of two, and have hit a stage in my life where that’s okay to do. That excites me, it makes me tick now, and that’s okay!

I wasn’t convinced by Aldi…not sure Lylah agrees though. When I asked her tonight at bedtime what she enjoyed about today after seeing lots of friends and visiting an old palace, she said, wait for it…”going to Aldi”.

Next week, I will be back to my usual routine, perusing Lidl for anything new in the Deluxe range and hitting the aisles like a pro. All they need now is pea crisps.

Growing up, my sister and I loved the theatre. We watched musicals at home for hours on end, knew all the songs and dances, and we were very fortunate to have parents who took us on theatre and cinema trips from a young age. I have these same ambitions for my own family, but I didn’t realise that along with anything else, a child has to learn to about these new experiences, and they can actually be big and daunting.

I’ve think I’ve been fairly ambitious with my two children and taking them to various cinema and theatre trips. I remember taking Lylah when she was about 2 1/2 for the first time. She was a real fidgeter, still is, and I did wonder whether she would still for nearly 2 hours in a really big dark room with a massive screen (the screen looks big to us, imagine it through the eyes of a 2 year old).

We’d not long had Malachy, but Chris and I wanted to take her as a treat for being a good girl at pre school and to celebrate the end of term. The film was the Minions movie, and the bribe for sitting still for long amounts of time was plentiful snacks and cinema ice cream. It worked for the most part, and I remember that trip being fairly successful, a good sign for cinema trips to come!

I still wasn’t convinced by theatre though. There is something pretty scary about the theatre. You go in, the lights are on, you’re chatting away and looking at the programme, and suddenly you’re in darkness and the orchestra starts to rumble! Our first trip to the theatre was with a friend and her also 2 year old. The girls (and mums) were excited to be seeing Chris & Pui live on stage! Lylah has always been a little bit wary of things in general. She likes to know situations and people well before she is fully relaxed, and to be honest is a trait that I hope sticks with her. However, in a theatre situation, when your heavily pregnant mummy is pushing through the laps of other attendees, telling you there us absolutely nothing to worry about while you’re screaming and crying, this trait appears to be more of a nuisance. Children at that age still don’t have the knowledge to know what to be afraid of and what is absolutely fine. Can we blame them? We teach them to be wary of strangers, and yet in a theatre situation, plonk them next to someone they don’t know in the dark. After sitting like a statue, staring at the stage for the entire first half, I wasn’t sure whether she was enjoying it, but she assured me she was. Her face said otherwise!

I left the next theatre trip to about a year later, and this time the show was Mister Maker! This one was a resounding success! Lylah was in love with Mister Maker at the time, and his arty party stage show was lively, colourful, and engaged the children. Maybe she’s turned a corner I thought?

I next took her to see a production of The Little Mermaid. Being Lylah’s absolute favourite film, and as she has an obsession with all things mermaid, I was convinced this would be a success. She brought her mermaid with her, sat like a big girl next to me and enjoyed the opening scenes. When Ursula appeared however, it all changed. She wasn’t just frightened, where a cuddle from mummy until Ursula exited stage right would do, she screamed and we had to leave the auditorium. She got herself in such a state. She wanted to go home. While I absolutely don’t want her to be scared or upset, I also want to try and show her that it would be okay, as I knew she’d absolutely love the rest of the show, and she’d miss out on so many fun outings like this if it became a phobia. She was won over by some gentle words, lots of cuddles and a tub of ice cream, and as we were stood near the door of the theatre, we could hear Ariel starting to sing her famous song. That was enough to get Lylah back inside, and by the end of the show, Ursula was one of her favourite characters!

When Malachy was about 18 months, Chris and I took both of them to see Trolls. I wouldn’t normally subject other cinema goers to a toddler in the aisles, but it was a weekday showing and it was practically empty. There was two of us to manage them as well; I certainly wouldn’t have attempted it on my own! All was going swimmingly until Malachy started shouting “poo poo” at the top of his voice. I took him to the baby change and proceed to change his nappy, but nothing was inside. He was squirming and screaming, obviously trying to shift something, For the rest of the time, he was a very unhappy little sausage, and as it was nearly finished, we put up with it for a few minutes, then I took him out. He screamed all the way home and it turned out he was extremely constipated – what timing!

I haven’t considered taking Malachy again, but might attempt the new Peppa Pig cinema hour – although whoever thought another hour of Peppa Pig was a good idea has obviously not watched 1200 of them in a row.

So, last night, I took Lylah to Peter Pan. She’s older now, I thought, if she’s frightened I can reason with her. I never mentioned Captain Hook. She was so excited, we were meeting friends, and she knew one of her little friends was going to be in the show.

Since the Little Mermaid experience, Lylah has been in a ballet show herself, so I thought we were well past any worries. In the car, she started listing the characters. “Oh no’ I thought! Then she says “Is Captain Hook going to be in the show?” I replied calmly and reassuringly “Yes, he’s in the story isn’t he? But he’s nothing to worry about, they are all pretend” Not looking too convinced, Lylah was noticeably worried from that point on. She was obviously trying to be brave bless her, and sat next to me and watched the first few scenes in silence. I braced myself when Captain Hook appeared, promptly handed Lylah a sweet and took a sigh of relief when all we had was a bit of a squirm and an extra squeeze of my hand. Lylah wouldn’t clap before that, but as soon as that moment was out of the way, she clapped and cheered through the rest of the show. My dreams of our West End theatre trips together aren’t shattered! She likes going to the theatre! It takes a little perseverance and faith that as children grown, they learn to know their senses and can differentiate between reality and play. Let’s just hope Malachy follows suit!

In October last year, I could barely run 10 mins on the treadmill. I was unfit, lazy, and wanted to be better. Going to the gym regularly and keeping it up made me excited to be getting fitter, and changed my attitude towards exercise. It makes me feel good, healthier, happier and I’m proud of myself and my mini achievements so far.

Entering 2017, I said I wanted to set myself some challenges this year, so I decided to run a race. I googled what there was around the 5/10k mark in the area around summer time, and I was pleased to see there is a 10k close by that I can take part in. That’s it, I thought, that’s the race I’ll do. I roped in my sister to join me, and we pencilled it in, at the back of our minds!

More recently, we have gathered up a dream team of girls, all of different running and fitness abilities, to join us in our race. Our common goal? To run this race to raise some money for Cancer Research UK.

Cancer has been very close to home for my family recently. A couple of years back, my beautiful mother-in-law was diagnosed with Lymphoma. For 6 months of last year, she underwent rigorous treatment for both the cancer via Chemotherapy, and also went through treatment for her autoimmune disease, Sjogren’s Disease. She has come out the other side of it, fit and well for the most part, but has suffered with infections and hospital stays as a result of her weak immune system. We don’t know when she might next have to face treatment, hopefully not for a long time, but it is so wonderful to know that because of that treatment last year, which somebody researched and spent time developing, she is with us alive and well today. Maura, this run is for you.

Also, the past 12 months has seen my elderly Nonno suffer with prostate cancer, which has spread to his bones. He has been in a hospice, and is now in a nursing home, fighting on and even seeing in his 90th birthday recently. My Nonna, his wife of 65 years, suffers from dementia, and their whole lives have been turned upside down. Nonno & Nonna, this run is for you.

10 years ago, my husband’s Aunt Paula died after a short battle with cancer. She was taken too suddenly at such a young age, because of this disease. Paula and all the Boyd family, this run is for you.

Also, his Aunt Anne has suffered with breast cancer in recent years, and with treatment, has come through it. Anne, this race is for you.

One of my best friends has a dear friend Lucy, who at the young age of 33 has discovered she has cancer for the 4th time in her life. We all admire how strong she has been in her life, adventurous in travelling the world and making the most of every opportunity presented to her. She is doing her own amazing things for cancer research, and will be cheering us on at this 10k. Lucy, this race is for you.

My mum has all too often seen cancer in her family. She has lost aunties and her cousin, all too young and I am sad that I haven’t had a chance to get to know these amazing people. Mum, this race is for you and our wonderful relatives gone too soon.

I have got to know a lovely lady, Franny, who I first met when she photographed Lylah when she was a baby. We have family and friends in common, our girls do dance classes together and she has taken some amazing family photos with her talent and her camera that I will treasure forever. She is battling cancer as a woman and a mother and everyday I admire her strength and positivity. Franny, this race is for you.

This race is for everyone touched by cancer. The ones who know people and see it from afar, the ones who are living it every day, the ones who have come close with scares themselves, and the ones who will get it in the future. This race is for all of us.

Back to my running. I had to set myself a goal for this race, and initially it was to complete it! In my training I have achieved a 10k, so I know I can do it. So I’m stepping it up a notch. I ran 10k in 1 hour 6 mins on my first attempt. I will be aiming to do it in under an hour on 18th June. Apparently this is completely possible (!), so there it is. I will run a 10k in under an hour.

Please support me in this race, and the wonderful work of Cancer Research UK, by donating (please see link below). I will try my hardest and work hard to reach my time. But if I don’t, please donate anyway, this race is for US.